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Update (10/15/17): Pt. 2 of "October Orchards" is currently in the works! Will be a little while yet, but out ASAP. :)

1.12.2016

Midget Monday #7

Happy Monday!

You know, the whole reason I started Midget Monday was because I was coming up with all of these ideas for short poems and stories that I felt weren't enough to post on their own. But ever since these posts actually started coming out, all of those ideas have gone and disappeared. What's up with that?!

What is Midget Monday?

Midget Monday is a weekly post containing one micro-poem (~6 lines or less) and one "micro" story (~300 words or less). Poems and stories may sometimes share a theme, but will usually be two random, mismatched topics. I may also build more upon any of the poems or stories that I use in these posts, so you might see these (or something similar) again in the future!

Midget Monday #7

Micro-Poem

What We Are

Dust.

That's how we all began.

The remnants of stars,

The essence of man;

Forged from the materials

Of the galaxies, of the planets,

We are what we are,
Now be all that you can.

Micro-Story

The Path We Walk

I felt cold. Frozen. And yet, I knew, were I to look at myself in a mirror, all I would see is a lost, hot mess; perhaps frozen, but merely in time.

Before me lay two paths, carved in the earth and overlaid with stone. They extended farther than the eye can see, a vast expanse absent of any other life, movement, even sound. As I stood at the foot of these forking paths, each going in its own direction, it seemed as if time itself was simultaneously accelerating and slowing down around me. The air was still, and silence reigned.

A choice. That is what I was being given. A choice between this way and that, a choice that would define my life, that would offer no second chances. A choice that, once made, could never be taken back. Could never be redone.

So I had to be sure that I made the right one.

But that's just it, isn't it? You can never be sure in life. Life is unpredictable. Unexpected. It throws itself at you, knocks you off your feet, and kicks you when you're down. It promises you one thing, and delivers another. It challenges you. It teaches you. It makes you. Life gives you choices, and sometimes you make the wrong one. But every choice brings with it a new set of opportunities. A new chance.

So I made mine.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped forward and went where it felt right. Who knows where I'd end up? Right or wrong, I'll take what I get. For this is the path I walk now.

But the story. That always sticks with me. That we have choices to make everyday and it makes me so indecisive. For the same reason your story says. People say you should go to college, have a solid job, etc. It makes sense that the people who care about you want you to have all that. But life is such an uncertainty. It's not as solid as they make it sound.

Exactly, Ashley. You said it perfectly with people wanting you to go to college, get a good, solid job, and so on.. And yes, those things have a ton of benefits, and, if you can manage it, you should certainly try to achieve those things. But there is no one right way to live. College isn't for everyone. It doesn't guarantee you a good-paying career.

Life is a different experience for everyone. It doesn't always go the way we think it will, but you can make the best of wherever it takes you.